World features

Orphans, widows of Syrian conflict victims are refugees in a fragile place

Tamam, Mouna and Hinan and these two children are Syrian refugees living temporarily at Al-Amayed School in Wadi Khaled, Lebanon.
27 Aug 2012
WADI KHALED, Lebanon — Since the start of the uprising in March last year, tens of thousands of Syria children have arrived as refugees in northern and western Lebanon, near the Syrian border. While some men fled to Ersal, located in...
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Aleppo hospital staff brave shells to treat wounded

25 Aug 2012
  On the first floor of the Dar al-Shifa hospital in Aleppo, a boom sounds as a rocket fired from a helicopter hits a nearby building, and the staff begin preparing for another influx of patients. They barely flinch at the...
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Syria revolt attracts motley foreign jihadi corps

18 Aug 2012
  A fighter returns to a Free Syrian Army safe house after a shift on the Aleppo frontline, cranks up the volume of the television, lights a cigarette and looks at himself in a broken mirror. "Anyone got hair gel? I look a mess....
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Mine 'bloodbath' shocks post-apartheid South Africa

Bystanders watch as police forensic experts work at the scene where 34 people died after police opened fire on striking mineworkers in Marikana on 17 August 2012. The workers at the Marikana mine were on a weeklong wildcat strike demanding a tripling of their wages from the current 4,000 rand (US$486) a month. South African police insisted today they only fired in self-defense. (AFP Photo/-)
18 Aug 2012
  MARIKANA, South Africa  — The police killing of 34 striking platinum miners in the bloodiest security operation since the end of white rule cut to the quick of South Africa's psyche on Friday, with searching questions...
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Somalia’s tough Islamist question

16 Aug 2012
MOGADISHU — The National Constituent Assembly approved on 1 August the new Somali Provisional Constitution, which will be used until a national referendum is possible to approve it and make it a more permanent constitution. The...
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Tunisia’s Islamist-secular divide gives a new meaning to the battle

A child wrapped in the Tunisian flag sits on the shoulders of a demonstrator who with hundreds of Tunisians turned out to demand jobs and dignity as the north African country marks a year to the day since its despot Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled into exile, Habib Bourguiba Avenue, Tunis, January 14, 2012. Some demonstrators, wearing the red and white of the national flag, called for recognition of the "martyrs" killed during the weeks of unrest before Ben Ali was toppled.
09 Aug 2012
TUNIS - Right in the heart of Tunis, a dozen of bearded men, some dressed in robes, others in tunics, sat outside the Salafi-controlled al-Fateh mosque to sell various Islamic products such as religious books, men’s hand-knitted caps...
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Q&A with Ennahda's Ajmi Lourimi

06 Aug 2012
TUNIS — Ajmi Lourimi, a member of Ennahda’s highest decision-making body, stands out as one of the most moderate voices in Tunisia’s largest Islamist organization. The 50-year-old political leader spoke to Egypt...
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Census: Iran young, urbanised and educated

Iranian women
29 Jul 2012
Iran is a very urbanized society with a largely educated, young Muslim population that ranks as the Middle East's second-biggest, its latest census figures, published on Sunday, show. The snapshot, issued on the website of the...
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Kurdish Syria: From cultural to armed revolution

Female fighters of the Kurdish milita YPG at an roadblock in Derik, North East Syria. The woman on the right is Arabic Christian.
28 Jul 2012
DERIK, Syria — The Kurdish rebellion in northeastern Syria intensified in fighting that erupted Saturday 22 July, as militias raising the slogan “Free Kurdistan” swarmed police stations and military outposts across the...
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UK's Big Ben clock to make historic Olympic ring

A flag bearing the Olympic rings flutters in front of Big Ben, the clock tower at Britain's parliament in London on July 23. Big Ben, the famed bell belonging to Britain's parliament, will chime non-stop for three minutes on Friday as part of a national event to mark the start of the London Olympics.
25 Jul 2012
  Big Ben, the famed bell belonging to Britain's Parliament, will chime non-stop for three minutes on Friday as part of a national event to mark the start of the London Olympics. The huge bell will strike more than 40 times...
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